Manouchehr Kasheff and ʿAlī-Akbar Saʿīdī Sīrjānī

Dietrich Huff, Bernard O’Kane

literally “four arches,” a modern term for an equilateral architectural unit consisting of four arches or short barrel vaults between four corner piers, with a dome on squinches over the central square. this unit became the most prominent element in traditional Iranian architecture after the ayvān.